Various types of beverages or products are stored in different types of containers for the eventual consumption by consumers. Beverages and other products are typically filled in containers such as thermoplastic or glass liquid containers in an automated filling process. The product must be sterilized, or free from live microorganisms of food and spoilage concern (including spores thereof) to provide the consumer with a safe product that has the respective quality attributes expected by the consumer.
Typically containers can be filled with beverages in a “cold-fill” process, “ambient fill” process, or a “hot-fill” process. In cold-fill applications, the beverage product is heated to an elevated temperature for a specific time interval to kill any live microorganisms of food safety and spoilage concern, (including spores thereof) (also referred to as pasteurization) and is then cooled to generally ambient temperatures. In ambient-fill applications, the beverage product is also heated to an elevated temperature for a specific time interval to kill any live microorganisms and spores (also referred to as pasteurization) and is then cooled to a generally ambient temperature or 70-100° F. In both cases, pre-sterilized containers are then filled with the cooled sterilized product in a filler, and the containers are capped and prepared for shipping.
A cold-fill or an ambient technique can be used in filling operations for fruit juice smoothie beverages. During this process, it may be desirable to denaturize proteins in protein fruit smoothie beverages for taste, texture, and other reasons. Many systems are designed to denaturalize proteins on the heating surfaces of heat exchangers. However, in the case of higher protein beverages, for example, formulations of 3-8% whey protein, during the filling operation, protein may foul the heat exchanger during denaturation, which may lead to product flavor deterioration because of the buildup of denatured protein in the flow pathway, and may slow the filling process. Specifically, during the denaturation process, proteins become less soluble, and the proteins tend to form sediments in the heat exchanger tubes, which results in a fouled heat exchanger and product flavor deterioration.